


Medusa

by HailSam



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gaster as human, M/M, Medusa - Freeform, W. D. Gaster is not related to Skelebros, changed ships, sans oc - Freeform, turning people to stone, whoops, you know you want it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22206199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HailSam/pseuds/HailSam
Summary: There are monsters who just can't control their own powers. Gaster is the unfortunate soul to be brought into the middle of a battle between a monster whose power could spell the end for everyone and the question of if what they do is really for everyone's best interests.
Relationships: W. D. Gaster/Grillby
Comments: 32
Kudos: 51





	1. Medusa

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me:  
> https://twitter.com/sassyhaillive  
> https://www.pillowfort.social/HailSam  
> https://sassyhail.tumblr.com/
> 
> If you need on Pillowfort or even an invite here, let me know I'll help you out :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster and Meddy meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an RP I got into for a while. There's a dark tone to it but it's not as bad as the rest of my stories. But it IS there. Thankfully I have a good guy Gaster ;)

Monsters had large and varying powers. Some were not so terrifying, simple gravity magic, the ability to make spears, etc. Some were to be slightly feared, such as the ability to produce fire at whim, or to sing a song that would put one to sleep in an instant.

And then there were the Legendaries. The ones that the humans had squirreled away ‘for their safety’. The ones who could kill on accident, or on purpose, with a whim.

Deep in an aquarium laid a giant monster named Onionsan. They lived there only because the ocean would be unable to take the strength of their mass. Much like a Kraken rising from the deep, they made huge waves, large enough for tsunamis.

In another ‘cell’ laid someone named Aaron. They were strong, so strong that when they picked anything up it would shatter within their hand in an instant. Definitely a threat to society.

More and more monsters in ‘cells’, albeit they had a good life here. In a manner. In exchange for keeping them-and society-safe, they had to allow the scientists to do different experiments on them. Not all were to help them out. Some of them were cruel, some were just boring, but none of them could deny the scientists. It was just their life.

In one cell lied the biggest discovery of all: Medusa.

A skeleton boy born years ago. His eye lights were hazy, gray almost, and when he opened his eyes he turned a human nurse to stone in an instant.

There was no way to stop it. He couldn’t stop his own magic, nor was there a way to block it. So, they did the only thing they knew: they blindfolded him. (He was blind, anyway, but this caused the defensive magic to not be used at least.)

Medusa, or Meddy as he sometimes was called, had never left the laboratory. No one ever did, and the population believed them to be treated fairly. They had no idea of what truly went on down there.

Only the scientists knew, and they would never tell anything that portrayed them in a negative light.

People had theories, of course. That they were building a super powered army, that they were using the monsters for nefarious purposes (what was more nefarious than an army to take over? No one was sure), that the scientists knew something the others didn’t and were preparing for it.

Whatever it was, it was under lock and key.

Doctor Wing Dings Gaster, an older and oddly named human man, was a very unfortunate man as well. He was tall, with salt and pepper hair, a fierce look to his face, steely gray eyes and a lab coat he somehow always had a clone of.

He’d always wanted to be a scientist as a child, climbing the ranks and studying his ass off in college. He argued for the idea of teleportation and something to do with quantum physics.

This is not where he’s unfortunate.

His unfortunate fortune comes into play at his new career. He’s brand new, and as such, he is…well, the gofer. Ugh. The one who is sent to do the things his superiors don’t want to or don’t have time for.

That means he was ‘voluntold’ for many different things, and today’s was…to babysit the one person no one wanted to. Medusa.

Oh they loved to make theories and tests on him, oh yes. But because of his blindness, and the blindfold, he needed care pretty much 24/7. However, he was…he was a fucking brat. A tyrant. So said his colleagues.

One rumor went that he threw a bowl of soup into Doctor Smith’s face as he didn’t like the taste. Another had him marking up Doctor Jane’s face with a permanent marker when she dozed off, thinking he was asleep. (He blamed her for that one.)

The newest one to blame for his running off of the caretaker was some fit he had thrown when the person didn’t get something he asked on time. Gaster followed behind the group as they talked, Johnson scowling. “Yeah, he bit into her hand, fucking bastard. So now she’s on medical leave.”

Addison scoffed, shaking her head, her blonde hair slipping over her shoulders. “He’s costing us more in interns than necessary, don’t see why we can’t gag him as well.”

Johnson rolled his eyes as the group stopped near a steel door, looking at Gaster. “We can’t or he’ll find another way to make our lives miserable.” He huffed, nodding at Gaster. “Look, don’t worry about it, yeah? The moment she’s back from medical leave, you’re let off and you can go back to whatever it is you do.”

Gaster wanted to use his sharp tongue back at the man, but he merely nodded, adjusting his glasses. “Of course. He sounds akin to a child.”

Addison snorted. “He’s an adult for sure but our predecessors spoiled him, I’m thinking.” She tutted. “Doesn’t matter now. Here.” She handed him a card. “That’ll allow you access in his room. He’s allowed to roam around so long as you’re with him, just make sure he never takes the blindfold off.”

Right. The whole…turning stone thing. Gaster nodded, and the rest of them moved on, setting interns to babysit other monsters and the like. Gaster let out a sigh through his nose, slowly scanning the card against the panel. He wasn’t sure what to expect.

The door opened to a room that wasn’t as…clinical as the others he had seen. The walls were pale yellow, the bed was a bit bigger than usual. There was a small table on top of a shag pink carpet, and the rest of the room had blue carpet. There was a small stool, and near a small bookcase stood the Medusa.

Well, more like he was leaning over, straightening up when the door had opened.

Gaster didn’t know what a skeleton monster looked like, so this was…shocking.

The Medusa wore a hospital gown that grazed his knees, one leg wrapped with a bandage. No shoes, no socks. Other than that he appeared clean and healthy, his skull was fat and squat, with two sharp teeth while the rest were flat. He couldn’t see the eyes as they were wrapped tightly with a dark red blindfold.

“H-Hello?”

His voice was shaky, a little high pitched, making Gaster think of a young boy lost and looking for his parents. No, he had to be prepared for the worst. He’d heard the stories after all. Gaster cleared his throat. “I am your new caretaker, I…apologize for being late.”

“Oh.” Medusa’s shoulders slumped a little, his fingers on the bookcase trembling a bit. “Okay. Um. Okay,” he mumbled, then turned his head to the side. “Could, could you? Um.”

Gaster raised an eyebrow. Was this an attempt to look helpless? To get his guard down? “What is it?”

The skeleton shrunk under his gaze. “I-I wanted to find um, my Curious George book…it’s not in its usual place,” he whispered, plucking one hand at his hospital gown. Gaster’s nose wrinkled. A book? That was all? He knew what those were, they were brightly yellow, but he didn’t see one in the-oh.

On the table the book laid, but upside down and open, as if someone laid it down. He went to point, then realized what he was doing and took a few steps over, picking it up. “It is on the table. Here.”

Medusa slowly let go of the bookshelf, his feet sliding across the carpet as if testing out where everything was in the room. Gaster wasn’t sure why he was annoyed at that. He assumed the monster should have known where things were, after all, it was his room. Slowly the skeletal hand held up and Gaster placed the book in his hand.

Medusa burst out into a smile, his head tilting up to face Gaster. “Thank you! I thought I had lost it!”

Gaster averted his eyes, holding in a sigh. “Yes yes, well. Are you just going to read then?”

“Yes!”

With that the monster slid around slowly, easing himself into the stool. His fingers skated across the book with glee, his feet tapping on the carpet happily.

Gaster felt like this was going to be a very long assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meddy is NOT a child, albeit Gaster assumes so mostly because he's so short. Meddy hasn't had outside contact beyond his caretakers, so he's a little childish. Plus do you really think they care enough to treat him like an adult?
> 
> So yeah. Humans. Experimenting on Monsters. Shouldn't be a surprise.


	2. Gaster Messed Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meddy isn't like what Gaster thought, and neither is this job...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good job being a class A jerk, Gaster! Went and screwed things up, yo

Gaster assumed the Medusa would behave much like his neighbor’s son. A screaming, fitful child, liable to sound an air horn in your ear than not.

But instead, the Medusa…was different. He was soft-spoken, careful of his steps. Careful not to even ask for help despite the fact he obviously needed it.

A ploy, then. To get Gaster on his side, or to trip him up, Gaster wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t fall for it, however. He tried not to feel the pang of empathy as the Medusa gently touched around the table to feel for utensils during lunch, or when he obviously had nothing else to do but sit and read or stare (in a manner) at the wall.

One day, the ‘head’ scientists demanded a magical energy test. Rather than an experiment, a test was pretty simple and was usually boring. They wanted to see if the Medusa had increased his magical abilities, or if it had decreased. Not that they were aiming for that, but still. 

He cleared his throat when he appeared in the room, his hands hanging on his sides. “Today they need you to do a magical energy test. Come.”

The Medusa perked up from where he was on his bed, sliding off slowly to come close to Gaster. “Oh! Thank you for that.”

Gaster frowned, raising an eyebrow as he allowed the skeleton to hold his hand. “For what?”

“Telling me,” he responded as Gaster led him out of the room. “None of the others ever do. It gets scary when they take me around.”

Hm. Well. Gaster could imagine why, certainly. All the same he just nodded, then mumbled an agreement when he realized the Medusa couldn’t see him.

Down the hall, to the left, through a door…Gaster helped him into a chair that looked more at home in a dentist’s office. The Medusa sighed nervously, fingers curling together as he tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling as Gaster started peeling apart the stickers that led to the energy machine. “This shouldn’t hurt, but all the same, stay still.”

The Medusa made a small noise, pausing in his nervous fluttering of hands to let Gaster stick the nodes to him with practiced ease. “What do you look like?”

Gaster tugged the machine over, adjusting a few knobs. “Hm? Oh. Um. I suppose like…any older male. I’ve begun to gray however,” he slid his hand through his hair and the Medusa giggled.

“Gray? What’s that? And what does that mean?”

Gaster sighed. “Medusa-”

“Call me Meddy. Please? No one ever does and I-I like it better.”

Gaster paused. “…Meddy,” he drawled out slowly. “I’m not too sure how to answer all those, and besides that, we’re not…I’m here to make sure you don’t get hurt not be…” Friends he wanted to say, but the more he stared at the slight hopeful look on the skeleton’s face, the more he felt…guilty for even thinking it.

No, no, that was stupid. They weren’t friends, he wasn’t here to even feel close to the monsters. He was here to ensure the Medusa-Meddy-didn’t hurt himself or kill them all or…something.

Gaster shook his head, returning his attention to the machine. “Your stats are looking fine,” he muttered. “How…do you feel?”

“…okay,” Meddy mumbled, his head angled down, as if staring at his lap. Gaster adjusted something on the machine, nodding slowly.

“Good.”

“Do you…” Meddy hesitated. “…know what they’re gonna do next?”

Gaster shook his head, not really paying attention. “As of yet they’re concentrating on another monster, but I have been assured that whatever it is they want to do, they will inform me.”

Meddy slouched a bit. “…okay,” he mumbled. Hmph. The Medusa was an odd one, for sure. He returned his attention back to the machine. 

“Everything seems fine. Let’s return.”

“…okay,” slowly he climbed down, grasping at Gaster’s hand nervously as he was led out of the room and back down the hallway. Gaster really didn’t know what they had planned for him, but he’d been brought up to date that it was usually just testing of magic they did. The monsters just hated working so much, is what he had heard.

Hmph. 

Meddy surprised him halfway to the room as he spoke up, “Rosie had a baby.”

Gaster frowned. “Who?”

“Rosie. They let us see each other sometimes, not all the time,” he said, his face straight ahead. “Rosie feels wet when she touches me, and has claws. She had a baby.”

Gaster cleared his throat uneasily. “That’s…good for her.”

“No it isn’t.”

The soft spoken words left Gaster feeling uneasy, and he didn’t feel like asking anything else as he brought Meddy back to the room. He made sure he was sitting, with a book to distract him for the rest of the day.

Rosie, he learned through careful questioning and gossip, was a Shyren whose abilities could force someone to do anything she willed them to through song. They gagged her with a metal collar, ensuring her words could never be spoken.

However, the ‘lower’ scientists were confused. She’d had no children, in fact, none of the monsters had. At least, not since they had worked there. When Gaster let slip about it to someone a level higher than him, they shot him a very poisonous look.

“Don’t dig too far in, newbie,” Sandra hissed out, a pen pointing at him, her dark hair in a tight bun. “If they say it’s never happened, it’s never happened. Got it?”

Gaster stared at her for a moment, slowly nodding. She nodded sharply back. “Good. Work hard, get to level two.” She leaned in, a scowl on her face. “And tell the brat to keep his mouth shut. It’s none of his business what happens with the Shyren.”

“Very well.” He bit out, and she clicked away on her heels.

That…well, if he was honest, he wasn’t surprised. He was the low rung on the totem pole, he wouldn’t know anything for a while, not until he was promoted, at least.

…the next time he came to work, Meddy tearfully, while holding his cup of milk for the morning, revealed that he was no longer allowed to the little meetings for the next month. Despite the fact Gaster really couldn’t care, he did feel a bit guilty that that was his fault. It was obvious it had to do with Meddy’s chat with Rosie-and here he was using their names. 

He gave a soft apology, gently reminded him to eat, and Meddy’s sniffles and swiping at the tears escaping the blindfold was all that occurred during the meal.

(Curse his soft heart. Curse it to the bowls of Hades. He felt _bad_ because that was probably his only socialness beyond the scientists who came and took readings from him. And here he came and ruined it for a month, and who knows what would happen between now and then. He had to find a way to fix this…)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =) my my. what ever could they mean? The scientists? Hiding things behind access levels? *nooo couldn't be*


	3. Stone Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They test Meddy's powers. Gaster gets Meddy a flower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't much like how this one came out, but slowly, oh so slowly, our daring scientist is melting to the skeleton!

Somehow, someway, Gaster managed to convince one of the higher levels that it was torture for the little skeleton to be remiss of his ‘friends’, and they allowed Meddy to attend only two meetings that month instead of the usual…however many they did. This perked Meddy right up, his cheerful self shining through once more. Good.

Gaster felt like he could breathe again. His soul had been thrumming in his throat this entire time, and while he swept away the thought that it was guilt, he knew that it was. Damn him.

He got to see Meddy’s magic in use, at least. The scientists had him bring him to a small room with an aquarium in the middle, filled with many fish. After leaving the room to stand near the one-way mirror, one scientist tapped the mic. “Okay, pull off your blindfold.”

Meddy hesitated, his hands jerking a bit as if afraid to pull it off at first, before he slowly slid it down his face. Gaster couldn’t see his eyes, of course not, it’d spell his end, but he idly wondered what they looked like. Meddy gulped. “Mm, n-now, what?”

Another tap. “Open your eyes, they’re just animals.”

Meddy didn’t respond for a moment, fiddling with the blindfold before his head tilted up.

The fish inside froze in place, as if glued to the walls of the glass. An angelfish twitched, but its body went back to stillness. Idly, Gaster thought of how they weren’t stone at all…

And then with a crackling noise, one huge catfish seemed to jerk and spasm before something cracked and it became entombed in a gray casing with almost beautiful details like no sculptor could make. It slowly sunk to the bottom as the other various fish succumbed to the same destiny, seaweed being caught in the stone and dragged down, bumping into one another. Meddy took a nervous step back, shaking as he shook his head. “I-I don’t like it, can I stop…?”

Gaster shot the other scientists a look, but none answered the shaking skeleton, merely making notes quickly. After a few moments, one tapped the mic. “Cover up with the blindfold or we’ll sedate you.” Meddy scrambled to tie it around his eyes, ducking his head down and curling up on the floor. The scientist squinted at Gaster. “Go get him, take him back to his room, that’s all we need today.”

Gaster muttered something under his breath, but didn’t say anything too loud as he left the hall. Meddy jumped when Gaster came into the room, scrambling at his arm and holding onto him tightly as he was led away. Meddy ducked his head, nearly pressing his face into Gaster’s sleeve. “I don’t like doing that.”

Gaster nodded. “I can imagine. You can’t stop it?”

“Not unless I’m asleep…or…” 

“…or?” Gaster asked. Meddy shrugged.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I have ideas. But it’s too dangerous to test it.” He squeezed Gaster’s arm. “ _I’m_ too dangerous.”

He couldn’t respond, but he gently cupped his hand over Meddy’s and squeezed before heading down towards his ‘room’.

Something happens later that week. A guard is fired. ‘Temporarily reassigned’ is what everyone is told, but Gaster knows that’s code for ‘fired’. Oddly enough, no one knows what happened. Sometimes gossip stirs, about someone cheating with someone else, or something like stealing, but there’s nothing. No one knows a thing.

No one even knew the guy worked here, but oh well. It’s not Gaster’s place to ask, he was merely curious.

Meddy shrugs in response when Gaster asks him softly, so Gaster lets it go, at least, for now.

—————————————————

One of Meddy’s scheduled tasks is reciting a list of words Gaster reads off, some sort of mind-numbing memory enhancer. When Gaster pauses, Meddy speaks up. “What um, what’s it like? Outside?”

Gaster frowns, flipping the page over as he thinks a little bit. “…it’s…green. There’s a field on the other side of the highway-”

“What’s a highway?” Meddy scoots forward on his seat, and Gaster thinks if he could see his eye lights, they’d be sparkling…somehow. Like in a cartoon.

“It’s…a very big road with cars. There’s the sun…and flowers…” He realized he wasn’t sure what else to say, but Meddy bounced in place enthusiastically all the same.

“I’d like to go out, one day. Can I have some flowers? Are they nice? Are they warm?”

He asked more questions that Gaster wasn’t sure he could answer, not without sounding like a jerk of course. Flowers weren’t warm, and he didn’t like some of them, and he was pretty sure it was against protocol for the monsters to have anything from the outside.

But…

“I’ll see if I can get you some.”

Damn himself.

It wasn’t a huge bouquet, but rather a small little daisy he had plucked from the side of the parking lot that he offered to Meddy the next day. Meddy’s skeletal fingers curled around the petals, slowly tracing around them, bringing the flower to his face and giving a soft sigh. “It smells good…what does it look like?”

Gaster took a seat on the stool, appearing grumpy as ever as he adjusted his glasses. “…white. They’re white petals around a yellow center. You’ll have to keep it safe, I can’t guarantee it won’t be thrown away.”

Meddy nodded, and slowly he tucked the flower into his hand, smiling at Gaster. “Thank you. I’ll cherish it always.”

Gaster cleared his throat, nodding as he gently nudged Meddy towards the table. “It’s time to eat, come now.”

He wasn’t warming up to the skeleton, certainly not. It wasn’t at all endearing how Meddy chattered his ear off or would haltingly read off from his books to him in their ‘relaxing’ time. No. Certainly not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am *this close* to turning this from a shipping story into a 'this is now my son and I WILL kill you if you hurt him' fic and Idk why
> 
> I love me some GasterxSans but also. Father figure.


	4. Gaster Makes A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster finds out a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an alternate to what I actually originally had planned. Kind of better in a way actually.

Gaster grew...fond of Meddy. He had to, they spent nearly all day together. Meddy liked it when they held hands rather than leading him by the arm. He didn’t like cranberries but loved plums. Some of the ‘experiments’ were really, really boring, except the ones that made him use his powers.

He cried, on those days, and all Gaster could do was rub his back or read to him. He didn’t really see how any of these were helping with...anything, unless it had a reason for it all.

He found out something horrible a week later.

The experiment today was something called the ‘Marshmallow’ experiment. Meddy sat at a table with a marshmallow, but as he couldn’t see it, he just...sat there, looking bored...and a little sleepy. How does a blindfolded skeleton look sleepy? Well, perhaps Gaster just knew him so well, he understood his body language. Maybe that was it.

They all stood at the window, the others making notes about nothing, he supposed, and honestly he was about to drift off too.

That was, until one of the neighboring experiment rooms opened. A scientist started to pull something out, did a double take upon seeing them-or him?-then cursed and pushed whatever it was back inside, shutting the door behind him.

Just not fast enough for the whine Gaster heard. He frowned, looking over, but no one came out. He looked over, making a noise at Sara whose head was bowed over her clipboard. “Who’s over there?”

Her eyes looked over, then she frowned, and started chewing her lip nervously before looking back down. “You’re not allowed to know, now, keep an eye on him in case he moves.”

Gaster scowled, turning to the side to start walking. “That’s ridiculous, he’s not going to do anything. What, is it a surprise?” he mocked and she looked up quickly, nearly dropping her clipboard.

“No, wait, don’t!”

Too late.

Too fucking late.

Through the window laid a nice little room that looked more meant for children than it did adults. There were two adults inside, the scientist from earlier and a woman, both of them seeming to argue. Next to them was a little infant wheel thing he had seen in hospitals for after the birth of a baby.

On top was a small skeleton child, a blindfold wrapped tightly around his eye sockets, and by the way he seemed to open and shut his mouth, he was crying, or whining.

Gaster stared as Sarah marched over to him, hissing, “It is NOT what you think!”

“Then what the hell do I think!?” he hissed back, his face pale. “Are you really going to stand there and be some sort of martyr by saying that’s not-”

“It’s NOT,” she huffed, jerking her head to the side at the staring scientists, who quickly jumped back to their clipboards. “Look, just, get back over here. Now.”

Gaster crossed his arms, glaring at her. She stared back, then rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, you fucker. It’s really not though.”

“ ‘Rosie had a baby’,” he mocked at her, “but oh no I should keep my fat nose out of things, is it?”

She winced, sighing and rubbing the back of her neck. “...that...that was something different...Look just...I’ll explain.”

“You better.”

\---------------------------

Monsters such as these were rare, and it was hard to...keep up to their aging sequences. Not only that, when they wanted to experiment on a ‘pool’ of them, their results would be disastrous as something that affected a skeleton would affect a Shyren differently.

So when they needed more….they did what they always did: cloning.

“Cloning,” Gaster echoed back.

Sarah nodded. “Cloning. Like with rats and monkeys.”

Gaster’s face scrunched up in thought. “So are they all clones? Who were the originals? And how are they even related?”

Sarah sighed, bringing a hand up to the bridge of her nose. “The Medusa you watch over is the original. We…had to clone him recently due to an idea one of the upper scientists had.”

“An idea. What idea?”

Sarah grimaced. “…if his powers could be…controlled from birth.”

Gaster blinked. “I thought he was born here.”

“No,” Sarah shook her head. “He was born outside. He was around 5 when he was found and brought here.”

Gaster grit his teeth, sitting up straighter. “I don’t see how that’s something beneficial to anyone, least of all M-the Medusa,” he stumbled a bit. “Not only is it a violation of ethics, it’s just immoral! And-”

“Oh don’t get on your high horse,” she groaned, sitting back in her chair with her hands clasped together. “We’re all, technically speaking, having tossed our morals by just signing up for what we’re doing.” Gaster didn’t respond, and she kept talking, “Keep it under your hat, as the saying goes, and maybe I’ll have a promotion lined up for you.”

Gaster squinted at her. “Are you…bribing me?”

She stared at him. A few minutes passed and he seemed to sigh, then smile. “Very well then, I’m not one to deny a good offer I see.”

She smiled back. “I didn’t take you for a fool after all. Good to have you on board, Doctor Gaster.”

With that, they shook hands, and he left her office, leaving her to sigh with relief.

——————————————

“You have to keep it a secret, Meddy. A very big secret.”

Gaster was on one knee, clutching at Meddy’s shoulders as he sat on the bed. Meddy nodded, nearly vibrating in eagerness. “I will, I will! I won’t tell anyone about the little brother,” he whispered, hiding a giggle. Gaster chuckled, patting his shoulder.

“Good. Because it’s not fair to him that they’re doing tests on him. And I aim to help, but I need you to be on your best behavior, so my plan will go accordingly.”

Meddy nodded again, his feet shifting as he squirmed in place almost happily. “I wanna help! Um, please!”

Gaster chuckled again, leaning in and tapping their foreheads together like his father used to do to him as a child. “I know you do, but the biggest help you could be right now is to just pretend you know nothing.”

“Deal!” Meddy grinned. Gaster idly wondered what his eyes really looked like, did they sparkle with mischief? Did they widen in wonder? Were they big and glittering like his was in old childhood photos, holding a fish the size of himself, looking for all the world pleased as punch.

Gaster squeezed his shoulder, then let go, clearing his throat as he stood up. “Time to eat then.”

Meddy scrambled up, quickly holding onto Gaster’s hand with a soft giggle. 

Yes, business as usual…they’ll never know a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe. Wonder if anyone saw it coming? Probably, considering *motions at other stories*


	5. Gaster's In Deep Sh-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come toppling down for Gaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew how I wanted this to end but not how to get there lol

“A self confident man,” his father once told him, “knows his weaknesses. A prideful man believes he has no weaknesses.”

Gaster’s weakness was chocolate and secretly wanting to help everyone, despite his gruff manner.

Sarah believed herself above weaknesses, that those she held in her fist would never betray her. That would be her downfall.

In fact, she thought so highly of herself that she immediately accepted Gaster’s ‘help’ with the infant Medusa.

Pride goeth before the fall, and all that splendor.

The ‘test’ they wanted him to do was a mere reflex one, but they had procured needles instead of the usual soft hammer (it did make sense, as he was a skeleton, but still, that was a rotten way of going about it). He merely nodded and smiled, and shooed them from the room. The baby sniffled when Gaster picked him up, shushing the little one. 

“There there, nothing will hurt you now,” he mumbled, this room had no one-way mirror to fear, so he took his time, cradling and rocking the baby. The baby was easily nodded off to sleep, gripping the front of Gaster’s lab coat. Gaster quirked a smile.

He was getting sentimental.

As a child, as a teen, as a young adult the idea of children never crossed his mind. Taking care of them, that is. Sure, he assumed he would have eventually gotten married, and kids came to mind but well...it was just so ‘far away’. A ‘someday’ notion.

Well, someone had to step up to protect these two, even if Meddy was technically an adult, Gaster certainly saw him as a child still. He acted like one, confined to a laboratory full of adults who didn’t know how to interact with a growing child.

It no longer felt like...he _had_ to save them, that it was some misplaced courage or something. No, he felt...like protecting them, keeping them safe.

How sentimental of him.

Well, his parents always wanted grandkids.

\--------------------

The day it all came crashing down was, in Gaster’s opinion, the single worst day of his life.

He’d been on lunch break when Sarah and a bunch of meatheads-I mean security guards-appeared. He made a smacking noise with his tongue as he finished a bite of his sandwich, raising an eyebrow at the group. “This is new. Is it my birthday?”

Sarah scoffed at him, crossing her arms, one hand holding a stack of papers. “We found it all, Gaster. Don’t play dumb.”

“How does one play dumb, Doctor? Sounds tiring.”

She scowled, tossing the stack on the table. He didn’t even look down, picking up a napkin to clean off his hand of the mayo. Subway never did put ‘just enough’, they always had to go overboard.

He knew what they were though.

Emails.

Emails to a reporter he knew that had taken a great interest in his work, in _their_ work. Emails to his friend, slowly but surely revealing his day to day activities.

He looked at Sarah, cradling his head in one hand, tossing his sandwich to the side. “What about it?”

She grit her teeth. “You’ve damned us all! The moment the media gets wind-”

“When I was a boy,” he interrupted. “My father often told me that if I wasn’t doing anything bad,” he glared at her, “Then I wouldn’t feel the need to keep it a secret. We’re not doing anything _bad_ , are we?”

She gnashed her teeth for a moment, breathing heavily through her nose. “I can’t. Answer. That. Get up and follow.”

“Sure sure.” Nothing she could do would hurt him, if he went ‘missing’, then the reporter and his friend would know what happened. One guard grabbed his arm and he tutted. “Such a brute, honestly, I can see why no one here likes any of you.”

The guard didn’t respond. Well. Gaster thought it was a fine insult.

They walked, and walked, with Sarah’s heels echoing in the halls, the white lights nearly giving him a migraine. Really, couldn’t they get any other color? She paused at a doorway, entering a code and letting it open before leading them in.

Meddy was on a bench, looking bored, swinging his legs. Gaster frowned, looking at Sarah. “What is this?”

Meddy perked up. “Gaster!” He squeaked, looking immensely happy now. Sarah crossed her arms, a smug look gracing her face.

“You think we haven’t had breaches before? We know how to take care of this.”

Arms grabbed him, holding him in place despite the fact he still wasn’t fighting back. He was confused, for a moment, before realization washed over him. “Wow. You’re that horrible a person? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, you seem like the type whose ‘ugly’ just secretes out from her.”

She sighed, rubbing a hand over her forehead. “I’ll be glad when you finally shut up. Remove it.” She nodded at one of the guards and Meddy shivered, leaning away from the footsteps he could hear.

“W-What’s going on-stop it!” He squeaked, the man had yanked his arm, forcing him up to sit and look straight at Gaster.

Gaster scowled, yanking on the ones holding onto him. “Don’t touch him-”

“Leave me alone!”

The scuffle wasn’t much, the guard had much more strength than Meddy’s slapping did, but the man quickly moved behind him as the other two pushed Gaster, causing him to trip and catch himself…

Right as the blindfold fell, revealing…

When Gaster was young, the popular candy at the time was ‘gobstoppers’. They were hard pieces of candy that melted in your mouth. His favorite had different flavors/colors. One day, he had become interested in the many colors and had tried to catch them by licking it in different ways.

It didn’t work.

Instead, his mother took a knife and cut it in half.

The inner color was a vibrant blue, while the outside wrapped around it in a gleam of red. Inside the blue, a small dot of green was visible, the last of the gobstopper.

Meddy’s eyes were like this. He thought of how they appeared like the candy, and how it matched his personality. Sweet, and hard to find a bitter spot to him.

One of the guards sucked in a breath, while Meddy just blinked up at Gaster, while Sarah mumbled about giving it a moment.

This was it, Gaster thought. Meddy didn’t mean it, and he wouldn’t blame him. It was all the other scientists’ fault. They knew the atrocities hidden behind the curtain, and eagerly turned their faces away in the name of ‘science’. Or money, in some cases.

Still, was this it? Was this the last he’d ever have another thought?

If so…

He kind of wished he’d kissed Grillby that night at prom. Would’ve made life more interesting. (Instead, he spent the night at home, telling himself he was okay with fixing and refixing his science experiment for the competition.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I can't have MeddyxGaster then I'll fucking take the Grillster thank you


	6. Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An escape is achieved!
> 
> But at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh. This didn't. Lead where I envisioned it. But. I hope you like. Where it went UwU

“It’s because I like you.”

Gaster grinned down shakily at the other monster, placing a hand on his head. “I like you too, Meddy. Now. Shhh…”

Meddy blinked, his eyes flicking around as he looked with wonder, although, Gaster wasn’t sure what he was seeing. They were hiding in a closet, somehow having escaped their ‘captors’, red lights flickering and sirens blaring.

The closet was small, Meddy dangling off his lab coat like a toddler learning to walk, a goofy grin on his face. “Your face is funny!”

“You said that,” he muttered, unlatching the door to peek out. Meddy had been intrigued with his glasses and the way one eye slumped a bit in the socket, despite the fact that Gaster had allowed him to feel his face that one time. ‘It’s different’ Meddy said, staring at him. 

Gaster...understood that, in a way.

Right now, however, they had to focus on getting out.

Peeking out into the hall revealed it to be empty, several of the doors on lockdown, but he was only aiming for one…

“This way,” he gently touched Meddy’s shoulder, leading him into the hall. Meddy eagerly followed, as Gaster knew he would do. Meddy trusted him, and Gaster would not betray that trust.

He herded them down the hallway quickly, cheering in his mind at the sight of the slightly cracked door. This was where the baby was held, and it seemed they didn’t care-or thought that nothing would happen-with the infant, which played right into Gaster’s plan. He nudged the door open to the sterile room, a metal crib on the side and...well it was a lonely room, not much except a desk for them to lay things on.

The baby stirred a bit, which surprised him as he assumed the loud sirens would have caused him to awaken, but it looked like the poor thing had cried itself to sleep. He frowned as he started to fuss, Meddy peeking through the bars at the baby. “He’s little!”

The baby sniffled as Gaster leaned in, picking him up with a sigh. “He’s a baby, babies grow eventually. Let’s go.”

Meddy nodded, taking Gaster’s hand and giggling as he prodded at his fingers curiously. With the sniffling baby in one arm and Meddy holding his other hand, this was going to be...hard.

He started for the emergency exit then paused. No, the others would probably be rushing for them at this point. No, he started down another path towards a maintenance door he found while lost on his first week here.

They had to avoid a few left out tools and ladders, but other than that their walk was...empty.

Suspicious.

Meddy tugged his hand and he glanced down, keeping his eye on the path in front of them. “Yes?”

“What’s his naaaame?”

Gaster hesitated, then shook his head. “Not sure, we’ll think about it once we’re away from here.”

Meddy grinned. “Okay!” He stepped up eagerly, rushing along with Gaster instead of him having to pull the small skeleton along with him.

Wall after wall passed by them, a turn of a corner here, a blare of a siren there...then he was kicking the door hard, forcing them out into the side of the building. Fine, that was fine, he just had to find his vehicle...he looked around the parking lot, cursing as it seemed the crowd of scientists were making their way out.

(He noticed none of them seemed to spare an idea for their captives…)

“You can see, can’t you?” he asked lightly and Meddy nodded, keeping his gaze down and away from the group far away from them.

“Uh huh.”

“They knew that, didn’t they.”

“I guess.”

Gaster grumbled, flinching as he heard a shout. “Let’s run this way...if we head towards the highway…” He could flag someone down, pretend to be in charge of the two. Everyone felt sympathy for kids.

Meddy shrugged, but eagerly followed him into the dense trees nearby. It didn’t take long for him to start whining like the small baby was, something about his feet, but Gaster just scooped him up much to his glee as he got to touch Gaster’s hair and look at the baby.

“Hello!”

The baby sniffled as Meddy reached out. “Can we take off his…?”

Gaster hesitated, sighing as he stopped near a tree, looking behind him as he panted. He didn’t _hear_ anyone following them, but what did that mean? “...sure, let’s do that.”

Meddy pulled the rubber band-a rubber band of all fucking things-off the little head slowly, letting it drop on the ground. The tiny baby blinked, yawning as he squirmed his tiny hands against his eyes.

They were as colorful as Meddy’s were, and no he did not turn into stone seeing them. Seems the kid liked him too. Meddy cooed at him, smiling brightly as the baby held his hand with a grumpy look. “Let’s go.”

A few steps in, he heard branches crunching behind him, yelling, and he started to sprint. Meddy held on tightly, the forest passing by them in a flash of green as he panted, pains in his chest as his lungs struggled to keep up. Damn. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped the gym as much as he did.

He ran harder and harder, and then Meddy started to scream. “Watch out!”

He turned his head, not stopping, sucking in a breath as a large black goop barrelled for them-

\----

Grillby had had a long day. Such a long day. His friend (his old crush...perhaps still crush?) had emailed him about his day again, how awful he felt about the charges he was in charge of. Grillby felt for him, children just had that pull to them, truly.

Grillby was a tall fire monster who had inherited his parents’ restaurant/bar. Today he closed late, heading home and sitting in his plush armchair with his feet on the footstool. His tie undone, vest unbuttoned, he puffed some smoke into the air, staring up above himself as he crackled, the only light in the room for now.

He was tired, okay? 

Plus…

He was hoping to see Gaster later...maybe...finally ask him to the movies or something! Something nice to get his friend to relax a little and...maybe get some courage! 

Oh who was he fooling, they were both old and exhausted, who in their right mind-

There was a knock at the door. He sat still for a moment, his toes curled into his shoes as he debated getting up, then another knock. He sighed. Fine, fine. Besides, it might be his neighbor, Miss Malley, and she often came over with packages she couldn’t open or to have his assistance in lighting her stove.

He slowly headed to the door, huffing a bit when there came another knock. “I’m coming, just a moment.”

He hesitated just a moment, to take a breath, to adjust his tie back into order, calm his crackling flames (he was told it was an ‘interesting haircut’ when people saw it...he had no hair to cut, so he did not get the joke.).

And then he opened the door.

And then his brain short-circuited.

Gaster, his old friend, stood at the door…

But.

But.

Gaster held the two skeletons he often talked about, one of them, crying, the other dozing peacefully. 

Gaster opened his mouth.

Black goop leaked out, spilling down his chin. It invaded his eyes, leaving the two grey orbs almost ethereal looking in their voids. His glasses were missing. His clothes were stained with the goop as well, and his hands shook from where they held the children.

“I think I need a little help, Grillby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O w O


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby helps Gaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite how uh...vague I left it, the uh, transformation is...kinda sick now that I think of it.
> 
> So uh
> 
> Skip the tildes the ~~ if you don't wanna read about Gaster yeeting off his human form.

The goop seemed to drip down on the hardwood floor, then slowly slink back onto the blackened fringe of Gaster's lab coat. He stumbled forward, and Grillby had to quickly catch him and both of the children. The older one sniffled and hid his face in Gaster's neck, while the baby dozed on, unheeding of their plight.

“I seem...to have caused...some trouble,” Gaster wheezed out and Grillby immediately shook his head, helping him inside and shutting the door with his foot.

“Nonsense. You look like you need the help.”

Gaster laughed, but it wasn't the deep laugh that he had gained over the years, nor the tittering high pitched one of their youth. This one was gravelly, burbling, like his mouth was full of syrup.

Grillby didn't want to envision what the goop was doing to him.

He managed to get Gaster to his couch, not caring whether it stained or not. He gently laid a hand on the little boy's back. “Hey now, you want to help me out?”

“No,” came a muffled response, sniffling, and Gaster let out a thick sigh.

“Meddy, please,” Gaster gently nudged the little boy, who finally lifted his head. He shifted off and away, sniffling, rubbing his hands over his eyes and Grillby felt bad for the little boy. Er. Well.

He just looked little, right? He was...their...age?

Grillby wasn't sure now.

Either way, he couldn't concentrate on that now. He urged Gaster to slip the dozing baby to 'Meddy', who snatched him away and curled up sadly, still hiding his face for some reason. Grillby sighed, looking Gaster over, the goop almost undulating over his skin. “My. You're in some trouble, hm?”

“You could say that, yes,” Gaster rumbled out, wheezing as he leaned over, hands on his knees. “I feel ill.”

Grillby nodded. “...perhaps...you should wash up in the washroom, yes? That might help?”

Gaster sighed slowly, nodding in agreement. He slid up, his shoulders slumped in, as if the weight of the goop was just too much. “Perhaps...get them something to eat,” he mumbled, slinking off down the hall, as he had been here often enough to know where to go.

Grillby nodded, sighing as he looked down at the two skeletons. The older one peeked up with an odd colorful eye light. “...do you like burgers?”

~~

The first thing to start to fall was his hair. 

At first he assumed he had pulled it out, staring at the mirror above the sink, something Grillby had only installed for him-and the toilet, of course. In the bath however, laid a mound of earth that he...really couldn't understand how it helped Grillby but he figured it was an elemental thing.

In the sink, strands of his hair slowly sunk into the water. He looked at himself in the mirror, able to focus without his glasses for once. He shakily held a hand up, brushing a hand over his bangs. Those, too, slipped free and floated down into the pooling water.

His cheek itched.

He reached his hand over shakily, and started to scrape at it furiously. It burned, it burned, so badly that he started to rasp and wheeze, scraping his now sharp fingers over his face. Something started falling into the sink, making a plopping noise, and he was sure he could see blood but right now all he could focus on was the burning.

And then it stopped.

Oh.

That felt nice.

He took in a shaky breath, his hands gripping the sides of his sink.

Wait...

He stared at one hand. Two of his fingers were rubbed down to the literal bone. He couldn't feel any pain, but you didn't often with fatal wounds, did you? He couldn't recall.

Oh...

He slowly raised his head up to look in the mirror.

And screamed.

~~

Meddy liked grilled cheese, and it was an easy meal that Grillby loved to make. The baby, whose name he still didn't know, was happy to be cuddled up close to his warmness. How sweet. 

How odd, though. Weren't skeletons named after fonts? It had been months since he'd interacted with one, they weren't in town as often where he worked. They mostly had humans or slime monsters, cloud monsters, although the Dogi sometimes showed up...

The scream made him jump, and he quickly set the baby in a chair, tucking him in to make sure he didn't roll off. “Gaster??” He hurried down the hall, shooing Meddy back in case it was bad. “Go and watch the baby, okay?”

Meddy nodded, although he looked close to tears as he raced back.

Grillby paused at the door, raising his hand up to knock. “Gaster? What's going-”

The door opened, revealing...

A skull, gleaming white, one socket drooped low while the other was rounded, atop a human body with two skeletal fingers on his human hand. “Grillby, I-I don't, I don't know what's going on!”

Well fuck, neither did Grillby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meddy: I don't know what a Daddy is but I bet you're the best one ^w^  
> Gaster, tearing up: I guess
> 
> It's canon now, sorry, Gaster's gotta adopt his skele children.


End file.
